The Nationals Federal Member for Mallee John Forrest says the Horsham community should not be held to ransom over the former Mill Street freight terminal.

Mr Forrest has written to Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese urging that if a Mill Street lease is still being negotiated with Qube Logistics, then those negotiations should be suspended immediately.

“The very reason Horsham Rural City went ahead with the new Dooen Intermodal Freight Hub was to get the transports out of the Horsham City precinct,” Mr Forrest said.

“There is enormous and understandable angst, particularly among Horsham North residents.

“The old Mill Street Freight Centre should be closed and decommissioned immediately. That is what the community wants, the council wants, governments want and I want.

“The Horsham community will not be bullied or intimidated, the old facility must be closed.”

Mr Forrest said if Mill Street was leased as a transport terminal, that would seriously undermine the potential of the new Dooen facility and cause great anxiety within the Horsham community.

Council owns the Dooen intermodal facility and has appointed Wimmera Container Line as the preferred operator. That business has made substantial investment in infrastructure and personnel in good faith that both Federal and State governments intended to close down Mill Street.

Re: Plans to reopen the former Horsham Freight Terminal In Mill Street.

It is with dismay that I write to you seeking confirmation the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has leased the former Horsham Freight Centre In Mill Street Horsham to Qube Logistics.

If such lease negotiations are still proceeding, I urge you call for them to stop immediately.

The Mill Street site was set to be decommissioned for better community purpose and I fear Horsham Rural City Council now finds itself in an unenviable situation.

If the property has been leased to Qube, the company must therefore prefer not to utilise the new $17.5 million Federal/State and community funded Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal at nearby Oooen.

This is playing tough poker with Horsham Rural City which had expected the site, owned by ARTC and VicTrack, to be de-commissioned, as was the community intention.

If the Mill Street site has been leased to Qube, this will seriously undermine the potential of the new Oooen facility and cause great anxiety within the Horsham community which does not want a freight hub within the Horsham City precinct.

Council owns the Oooen intermodal facility and has appointed Wimmera Container Line as the preferred operator. That business has made substantial investment in infrastructure and personnel in good faith that both Federal and State governments intended to close down Mill Street.